


You and I Tonight

by Drachesoul



Category: BLACKPINK (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Percy Jackson Fusion, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:28:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27317767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drachesoul/pseuds/Drachesoul
Summary: Nyx has been defeated. For now. Camp Half-Blood is experiencing a time of peace but how long is that going to last? The second shard has been discovered, and it's up to Park Chaeyoung and her girls to find it before Nyx's forces can. Eventual Chaelisa and as always there will be way too many cameos from other groups.Arc 2 in the I Fall universe.
Relationships: Lalisa Manoban | Lisa/Park Chaeyoung | Rosé
Comments: 3
Kudos: 43





	1. Playing With Fire (and Bombs)

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the second arc in the I Fall universe and this time Blackpink are taking the lead.

Park Chaeyoung knew she was different from the other kids when she told a boy who was bullying her on the playground to go jump off the top of the monkey bars. He broke his arm in two places and never bothered her again.

Still, it wasn’t until these kinds of things _kept_ happening that she began to suspect that something was well and truly off. She’d confronted her father about it multiple times only for him to brush her off and dismiss it as a result of an overactive imagination. But she’d seen the look on his face: he wasn’t telling her everything.

Things had eventually gotten so bad that one day she’d broken down in front of her father and told him that this wasn’t the kind of life she wanted to live. He’d finally taken the hint and within a few weeks she found herself traveling all the way from Australia to New York to a place her father had called Camp Half-Blood.

It was there that her entire world had turned upside-down. And yet despite the turmoil that had come from finding out she was legitimately part-god (though her father had never told her how he met Aphrodite) everything suddenly began to make sense.

She had half-siblings that took her under their wing, teaching her the ins and outs of being a demigod. She was given private classes on how to control her persuasion ability, which her siblings called charmspeaking. Sure, her father was no longer a part of her daily life but she’d found a new family.

Her life was going pretty well too, until the day Kang Seulgi arrived at camp. When Seulgi had gotten claimed by Apollo after their team had won the capture the flag game it seemed like that would be the end of it. Until Seulgi had run away with an unclaimed demigod named Son Seungwan in order to hijack someone else’s quest. The rest of the details were a little murky to everyone not intimately involved in the quest but all Chaeyoung knew was that Seulgi had run away and then a few days later their camp had come under siege.

The strange shadow creatures began assaulting the camp’s borders relentlessly, wearing everybody down and even seriously injuring a few campers. A squad of Apollo campers had even gone missing, and it wasn’t until Joohyun and her girls had returned that they’d learned of their true adversary: Nyx.

A primordial goddess hellbent on recovering the four missing shards of her scepter. No one knew what her true objective was but even after Seulgi and Joohyun had defeated the goddess it was plain to see that Camp Half-Blood would have to prepare for the possibility of war.

So they prepared. The time set aside for combat classes had doubled, and the various campers had been divided into brackets based on their combat power. Chaeyoung didn’t _mind_ honing her skills, but thanks to her rather unique ability she’d been given a place in the highest tier combat class.

She wasn’t by any means the best fighter at camp, her combat prowess was far outstripped by both the Ares and Athena kids, as well as a few other notable campers (namely Joohyun, Seulgi, Seungwan, Sooyoung and Yeri). Still, her charmspeaking was strong enough to earn her a place in the top combat class at camp, where she learned how to weaponize her power in close quarters to do things like force her opponents to surrender their weapons.

Unfortunately for her, that meant her instructor was Joohyun and the daughter of Hades was well-known for driving her class to the brink of exhaustion every lesson.

Which was why she was currently sprawled on a chaise lounge in front of the Aphrodite cabin in her swimsuit, enjoying the warm sunlight with a couple of her siblings and trying to ignore the heavy, tired feeling in her limbs. Next to her, her brothers Seokjin and Jinyoung were also sunning themselves. The two of them had begun joining Chaeyoung when she sat out here and had begun attracting the gazes of interested demigods. The three of them had since formed an unofficial club out of the activity, though Chaeyoung was pretty sure the boys had ulterior motives, judging by the small group of demigods that were pretending to hang out by one of the nearby weapons lockers and were instead taking turns looking at the boys in their swim trunks.

As a child of Aphrodite Chaeyoung had quickly become accustomed to some of the rather unfortunate stereotypes that came from being a child of the goddess of love and beauty. Not the least of which was the power of Amokinesis, an ability that allowed them absolute power over love and desire. Some of her siblings took full advantage of it and loved being the center of attention, and Chaeyoung never judged them for it. It just simply wasn’t her style.

She wanted to find a partner organically, _without_ the help of any of her powers. So many demigods seemed to harbor a sort of idol-complex against Aphrodite kids, always looking but never caring to really try and get to know them. Chaeyoung had long since accepted her journey to find a partner would be an uphill battle and only hoped that she would find someone who saw her for who she truly was.

Luckily for her though, not everyone was enamored with her. Chaeyoung was easily able to make friends with people who were already in committed relationships for obvious reasons, which was why she enjoyed spending time with Joohyun and Seulgi. Being the third wheel didn’t bother her in the slightest. And just because many demigods were afraid to approach her didn’t mean all of them were.

Case in point: Kim Jisoo, daughter of Hecate. 

“I take it Joohyun didn’t take it easy on your class today?”

Chaeyoung opened her eyes to see a shadow blocking out her sunlight. She furrowed her brows and pouted. “Jisoo unnie, you’re blocking my sunshine.”

Kim Jisoo, daughter of Hecate and Chaeyoung’s best friend leaned over her with a smile on her face. “You always sun yourself out here when you’ve had a rough day, but now’s not the time to sit around and look hot. Didn’t you hear? We’re wanted up at the Big House.”

_That_ piqued Chaeyoung’s interest. She peered over her sunglasses at the raven-haired girl, looking skeptical. Jisoo was fond of getting her excited over things and then ruining the moment but this time the older girl looked dead serious. “Wait, really?”

Jisoo held out her hand and easily hauled the younger girl to her feet. “Yup. So hurry up and go put on some actual clothes, I think today is finally our day.”

XXX

“New Jersey? How the Hades are we supposed to get there?” Jisoo asked, looking at the dossier Director Kim handed her and skimming over the girls’ information. They’d arrived at the Big House only to be greeted by Director Kim Jong Kook, who ushered them into the parlor and handed them two thick manila folders.

They hadn’t been called on an official quest, much to their disappointment but they _had_ been given an important mission. Usually whenever a demigod was discovered the camp had enough time to send a couple of agents to slowly introduce the person to the world of the gods but sometimes whatever system the camp used to locate demigods didn’t pick up a usable trace until the camper was much older.

Which was the case with Kim Jennie and Lalisa Manoban. Both sixteen, and for whatever reason they hadn’t been picked up before now. The whole situation seemed fishy to Chaeyoung, who recalled that the last person who’d been picked up at a late age was none other than Kang Seulgi. Who ended up being the Dawnbreaker.

“Usually I’d grant you access to call upon Iris but since this academy is only a couple of hours from here I’d rather not bother her. Besides, Miss Park already has a car.”

Ten minutes later saw Jisoo and Chaeyoung out by the stables, getting ready to head out. Chaeyoung’s car wasn’t technically classified as a mount but the camp lacked an official garage so she’d taken to parking the car with the camp’s Pegasi and other stabled beasts.

“You know when Director Kim said ‘car’ I was expecting a heap of crap on wheels, _maybe_ a sedan if we were lucky…” 

“My mom gave it to me,” Chaeyoung said proudly, running a loving hand over the hood of her precious car.

“Aphrodite gave you a _Tesla?”_ Jisoo sounded skeptical, but honestly things like this were pretty on brand for Aphrodite. Chaeyoung remembered waking up on her sixteenth birthday to find the keys on her bedside table and the rest was history.

“What? She gave Jinyoung three different Rolexes for his sixteenth birthday,” Chaeyoung countered, like it was normal for kids to receive lavish gifts like she had. “And Seokjin got a wardrobe full of Givenchy for his.”

“You Aphrodite kids are _not_ normal,” Jisoo shook her head in disbelief. Still, the daughter of Hecate couldn’t help but stare at the fancy blue car in front of her. She could only dream of her godly parent being as devoted as Aphrodite was to her children. It’s not that Hecate _wasn’t_ a good mother as far as gods went, she did a hell of a lot more for her children than some of the other gods, but Aphrodite was on another level. “Seriously, I think this thing is worth more than my entire family.” 

XXX

Their first snag came as soon as they reached the locked gates of the fancy academy where the girls were rumored to attend.

“Huh. Wow, these rich people _really_ want to keep everyone else out, huh?” Jisoo said, leaning out the window of the Tesla and looking around to see if there was a way to get in. It didn’t look like it would be easy; the imposing wrought-iron gates stood more than fifteen feet high, and the walls surrounding the school had warning signs plastered every few feet that promised a _shocking_ consequence if touched. “What’s our plan, Rosie? I could try and magic the security system, but electronics are pretty fickle and I have no idea if it would work or not.”

“Don’t worry, I got this,” Chaeyoung replied, gesturing to the glove box on the passenger side. “There should be a box in there, can you hand it to me? Oh and be careful, it’s rather fragile.”

Confused, Jisoo reached in and pulled out a tiny black box and slowly handed it to Chaeyoung, as if she was afraid that it might blow up. “What’s this?”

“A little present courtesy of Yeri and Felix. It’s amazing what kinds of things the Hephaestus kids can make, especially when they’re being inspired by chaos incarnate.” Chaeyoung gently opened the box and turned it around so Jisoo could see. Nestled in the box were three round silver spheres. “Behold, their latest creation.”

“Ball bearings?”

Chaeyoung snorted. “No, but you’re right, they look similar. I forget what stupid name Yeri came up with but they’re basically teeny tiny EMP bombs.”

Jisoo recoiled. “Bombs?!”

Chaeyoung picked up one of the spheres and stepped out of the car, sticking it onto the gate’s security system. A second later there was a tiny boom and a bright pulse of electricity and the gates opened. Jisoo nodded appreciatively as Chaeyoung slid back into the driver’s seat, leaving behind the faintly smoking wreckage of the security system.

“As Kim Yerim is fond of telling anyone, ‘You never know when you’ll have to break into something.’” Chaeyoung chuckled.

“No wonder everyone’s low-key terrified of her,” Jisoo shuddered, taking back the box with the remaining two bombs and tucking it in the glovebox again. “There, I think I see them.”

Chaeyoung looked over at where the daughter of Hecate was pointing and saw two figures casually passing a ball around underneath the bright lights of the school’s soccer field. Dimming the headlights so they wouldn’t be seen, she pulled into an empty parking space.

“Well, they’re already outside, that makes this first part pretty easy.” Chaeyoung was a little disappointed that she wouldn’t be able to show off her charm speaking, but she had to admit it made their plan a lot easier. “Hey, hide the car, would you? I don’t have a permit for this place and I am _not_ getting my baby towed.”

Jisoo rolled her eyes but complied nevertheless, laying her hand on the hood of Chaeyoung’s car. Wisps of silvery energy emanated from her fingertips and with a muttered word in Ancient Greek the car disappeared from view.

As a daughter of Hecate, one of Jisoo’s abilities was the power to manipulate the Mist. The Mist was what allowed the world of the gods to stay hidden from mortal sight, turning the extraordinary into the mundane and meaningless. Chaeyoung’s car was still there, Jisoo’s power wasn’t true invisibility like Hades’ Helm of Darkness but it _did_ make for a pretty powerful magical smokescreen. That combined with Jisoo’s natural spell-casting ability made her the ideal companion to take along on a rescue mission. 

Together the two of them snuck across the parking lot and towards the soccer field, where the two girls were still playing. Everything about them seemed normal, which piqued Chaeyoung’s interest. These girls seemed to be around her age, so how was it that their demigod status had managed to stay hidden for so long? She had her theories. Well _one_ theory. Seulgi had been in a similar situation and she turned out to have this super rare Apollo ability. One of them was probably a Big Three kid or something equally as unlikely.

Both girls were absolutely breathtaking, that much was obvious. But she found herself drawn to the girl that was around her height, with short black hair that just barely reached her jaw and a bright smile. Lisa, according to the dossier she had been given back at camp. Lisa kicked the ball towards her friend (Jennie, Chaeyoung said in her head) and burst into a fit of giggles when the other girl missed the easy shot and tripped over her own feet.

_Wow, she’s really cute._ The thought popped up unbidden in her head and she could feel the tips of her ears beginning to turn pink with embarrassment. One of the other traits she’d “inherited” from her mother was an almost uncanny ability to tell when someone had feelings for another person, as well as their romantic status in life. Unfortunately, it also extended to herself.

“Really? We haven’t even talked yet…” Chaeyoung muttered under her breath. At least she knew Lisa was single.

“What?” Chaeyoung cringed; Jisoo must have heard her. Luckily for her though, the older girl decided not to press the issue in favor of returning to the mission at hand. “Anyway, so now what, we just wait? I don’t think just approaching them to say ‘hey, you’re part god’ is a good idea.”

Chaeyoung nodded her head in agreement, willing herself to ignore any thoughts of Lisa. There would be time to confront that _after_ they’d brought both girls back to camp. In order to do that though…how would they play this? Having a good approach would be the deciding factor that determined whether or not these girls believed them. At this point she was thinking she’d just strike up a friendly conversation with them and then segue into Jisoo showing off her powers.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, a decision was made for them.

“Uh, Rosie?” Jisoo stuttered, tapping her friend on the shoulder. “I don’t think we have time to think of a plan anymore.”

“Why?”

The decision had come in the form of one very angry Catoblepas.

XXX 

Their second snag didn’t turn out to be Chaeyoung’s sudden interest in Lisa but rather the giant twelve-foot long wildebeest-like creature that lumbered out of the darkness and towards the unsuspecting girls. 

“What the hell?” Chaeyoung muttered. Behind her she heard the sound of Jisoo unsheathing her weapons and knew the daughter of Hecate was waiting for her order to strike. “These things aren’t usually this openly aggressive, what’s this one’s problem?”

“I sense malignant magic,” Jisoo replied, and sure enough, if Chaeyoung squinted her eyes, she could see that a strange purple rune had been crudely carved into the poor beast’s hide. “Ugh, that’s barbaric.”

“They haven’t noticed him yet,” Chaeyoung glanced worriedly at the two girls who were still absorbed in their game and hadn’t become aware of the Catoblepas.

There was a scream.

“You were saying?” Jisoo replied dryly. Chaeyoung rolled her eyes. 

“What the fuck is that thing?” Jennie yelped, spinning Lisa around so she could see the monster. The Catoblepas huffed angrily, its tail swishing back and forth as it stamped its hooves.

“A cow?” Lisa responded, staring at Jennie like she had grown two heads. Was she unable to see through the Mist? “I dunno why you’re worried about a cow, unnie. What’s it gonna do, moo at us?”

Jennie shot Lisa a scathing look and Chaeyoung was reminded of Joohyun doing the same to Seulgi after the last capture the flag game. There was something off about Jennie but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it yet. But now wasn’t the time to ruminate on her suspicions. There was a giant wildebeest stalking the girls she was supposed to rescue.

Now was the time to act.

“Jisoo, hold it off for as long as you can,” Chaeyoung dashed forward out of their hiding place while Jisoo snapped her fingers and blinked in front of the charging beast. With an almost bored look on her face the daughter of Hecate summoned a protective shield and braced herself for the incoming hit.

The Catoblepas crashed into the magical shield, bouncing off the potent barrier and careening to the left before crashing into a nearby tree. Chaeyoung couldn’t see a tell-tale puff of yellow dust however, so the beast was by no means defeated. In fact they’d probably only made it even angrier.

“Who the hell are you guys?” Jennie asked, craning her neck to see the Catoblepas stumbling to its feet, clearly injured but by no means defeated.

“We’re friends,” Chaeyoung replied, eyes still trained on the beast. “But long story short, you two aren’t human.”

“Excuse me?”

Well this could have gone better. Ideally Chaeyoung wanted at least an hour to break the news to the two girls but they _definitely_ didn’t have time on their side. With the Catoblepas recovering from the surprise attack it meant she had to go to plan H.

Which was basically just a crash course in demigod.

“You’re demigods,” Jisoo took over, seeing Chaeyoung’s panicked expression. “Half human, half god. Basically you’re giving off a scent that attracts monsters so if you want to continue living you really should come with us.”

Lisa nodded, clearly interested in what Jisoo said. Jennie on the other hand looked completely unconvinced.

“Yeah, sure and I’m secretly a brand ambassador for Chanel,” the shorter girl scoffed. She turned to look at Chaeyoung, who was busy digging around in her bags for something. “What are you doing?”

“Finding my weapon,” Chaeyoung replied, pulling out what appeared to be a tube of lipstick from her bags with a triumphant grin on her face. Charmspeak may be her main weapon of choice but she had the feeling that only violence would serve against this maddened enemy.

“I don’t think a tube of lipstick is gonna do much good against whatever the fuck that is,” Jennie deadpanned.

Chaeyoung merely smirked and opened the lipstick, enjoying the surprised expressions on both Jennie and Lisa’s faces when the lipstick tube shimmered and turned into a celestial bronze bow. She ran her fingers along the bowstring and a single silver arrow appeared. Magical ammo. A lifesaver in battle and one of the most useful weapons the Hephaestus cabin had ever created.

“Never mind, I take that back,” the dark-haired girl amended.

“That is so cool!” Lisa clapped her hands gleefully, having apparently forgotten about the angry manticore stalking towards them in favor of making grabby hands at Chaeyoung’s prized bow. “I want one.”

The Catoblepas roared, causing all four girls to jump. Chaeyoung nocked the arrow and inhaled, firing the weapon and watching as the arrow shot through the air and bit into the Catoblepas’ tough hide, causing it to bellow in pain. 

“Jisoo, now!” Chaeyoung called out and the daughter of Hecate snapped her fingers. Chains sprouted from the arrow’s point of impact and sank into the ground, immobilizing the Catoblepas and causing it to trip over its own hooves.

The beast struggled, trying to break the chains to no avail. Chaeyoung knew Jisoo’s magic wouldn’t last for very long so time was of the essence. They needed to get out of there _now_.

“You can believe whatever you want, Jennie,” Chaeyoung said, enjoying the look of surprise on the other girl’s face when she heard her name. “But wouldn’t you rather _not_ be dead?”

Jennie looked from Chaeyoung to Jisoo and finally to Lisa before nodding her head reluctantly. “Fine. But you two have a lot of explaining to do.”

Leaving the Catoblepas behind the four of them rushed back to Chaeyoung’s car. Jisoo quickly dispelled the Mist surrounding the Tesla and another round of excited noises came from Lisa.

“That’s a Tesla.”

Chaeyoung ushered them both into the backseat and handed her bag to Jisoo. “All right, let’s get the hell out of here before that Catoblepas frees itself.”

Putting all of her driving skills to use, Chaeyoung floored the gas pedal and bolted down the tree-lined driveway past the academy buildings and towards the security gate.

Which had closed again.

“Fuck, who’s got decent aim?” Chaeyoung looked back at her three passengers and Jennie pointed to Lisa. “Good enough for me. Jisoo, pass Lisa the bombs.”

“Bombs?” Lisa looked far too excited and Chaeyoung wondered if the girl was a daughter of Hermes. She shuddered; the last thing the world needed was another Yeri. Jisoo carefully handed Lisa the box with the remaining EMP bombs. “Wow, are these tiny EMP’s?”

“Guys, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the cow thing is back,” Jennie warned, and everyone turned to look behind them. Sure enough, the Catoblepas had managed to free itself from the chains and was now charging straight for them.

“No time to explain, just throw it at the keypad,” Chaeyoung said, putting her car into gear and getting ready.

Lisa opened the back window and chucked the EMP bomb at the keypad, watching as it stuck to the security system and disabled the gate controls. The gates began to open and as soon as there was enough room for Chaeyoung to squeeze the Tesla through she floored it.

Just in time too, as the Catoblepas rammed into the rear bumper, leaving a large dent in the trunk area. Chaeyoung was pissed; how dare that overgrown pile of ground beef touch her baby?

With a shower of sparks, Chaeyoung squeezed past the gates and took off back towards Camp Half-Blood. She had the sinking feeling though that whatever magic was possessing the Catoblepas would come back to haunt them.

XXX

An hour later found them approaching the borders to Camp Half-Blood. So far they’d seen neither hide nor hair of the Catoblepas and Chaeyoung hoped that it hadn’t chased them all the way from the academy. The first thing Chaeyoung would do when they returned was bribe Felix to jump the line so she could get her baby fixed up. 

“So let me get this straight, Chaeyoung is the daughter of Aphrodite and Jisoo is the daughter of Hecate?” Jennie said. “And you both have magical powers.”

Jisoo turned around in her seat and summoned a spark of magic. Lisa and Jennie’s eyes widened as she manipulated the spark to dance across the palm of her hand. Chaeyoung was driving and couldn’t see much in the rearview mirror but judging from the comments she heard, Jisoo’s magic show was a hit.

“Can you do something similar, Chaeyoung?” Lisa asked. 

“I don’t literally have magic, that’s kind of a Hecate-exclusive thing,” she responded. “But I _do_ have the power to compel people to do whatever I want. Mostly. There are some caveats to the whole thing that would take me ages to explain but basically? I can do things like compel people to surrender in battle and stuff like that.”

“So could you rob a bank?” was the first thing Lisa asked.

“…I _wouldn’t_ ,” Chaeyoung emphasized. “But yes. Theoretically I could.”

“Awesome.” Lisa’s smile sent Chaeyoung’s heart into a frenzy.

“I wonder who our godly parents are?” Jennie mused, looking out the window as they turned off the main road and down the path that would lead them to Camp Half-Blood.

“No idea, but once we’re at camp you’ll find out within a week.” Jisoo said. “It’s an interesting procedure. You guys will—”

The rest of Jisoo’s sentence was cut off when something huge slammed into the back of their vehicle and sent it flipping end over end. Chaeyoung felt nothing but pain in that instant as the Catoblepas they thought they’d outrun crashed into the car.

She wondered how in the Hades the damn thing had not only managed to catch up to them but still hit them despite all the damage it had taken earlier. 

Chaeyoung coughed, leaning her head back against the headrest and regretting it when a jolt of pain shot through her skull. She took a look at her surroundings, noticing that she was upside down, the Catoblepas having flipped her car with the sheer power of its charge.

Groaning with pain Chaeyoung reached into her pocket and pulled out a small celestial bronze knife, sawing into what remained of her seat belt and freeing herself, tumbling ungracefully to the floor.

“Is everyone okay?” she called weakly. Her vision was still swimming and she was pretty sure she had some kind of concussion.

“Alive,” came Jisoo’s response as the older girl blinked free from her seatbelt and landed roughly on the forest floor. Her magical reserves were running low. “Damn Catoblepas...”

Chaeyoung looked around for Lisa and Jennie, some of the panic in her chest abating when she saw Lisa supporting her friend, who had fared the worst in the ensuing accident. “Are you two okay?”

“I think Jennie’s ankle is broken but otherwise we’re both alive,” Lisa said. “Can’t say the same about your car.”

Lisa was right, the Catoblepas had totaled her precious vehicle. Chaeyoung growled, first the trunk and now her whole car? She was about to hunt down that damn cow beast and slaughter it herself. _Be calm, Park Chaeyoung. Assuming you survive this, you can bribe Felix to work his magic on your baby and bring her back to life._

“What matters is that we’re all okay,” Chaeyoung forced herself to shove the thoughts about her car to the back of her mind and focus on the present. They were only about a hundred feet from the camp borders and someone _had_ to have heard the crash. Reinforcements would be coming soon.

That didn’t take care of the Catoblepas though. It bellowed triumphantly, having charged straight through the car. It was now the only thing standing between them and safety. And it looked like it was getting ready to charge again.

“We can’t kill this thing now, we’re too weak,” Jisoo panted, trying to summon her magic and failing. “And it’s standing between us and the border.”

“Wait, I have an idea you guys!” Lisa transferred her hold on Jennie to Jisoo and sank to her knees, looking under the slightly smoking remains of the Tesla’s dashboard. “Chaeyoung do you have a flashlight?”

Chaeyoung nodded and wordlessly handed over the flashlight to Lisa, who ducked under the dashboard and began fiddling with a bunch of wires. She didn’t even _want_ to know what Lisa was doing with her baby.

“Whatever you’re planning hurry it up,” Jisoo warned, keeping a tight hold on Jennie’s waist to support her. “It’s coming!”

“Hang on, I’ve almost got it,” Lisa grunted, putting the flashlight back in her mouth and reaching under the dashboard again.

“Lisa we’re out of time!”

“I’ve got it, run!” Lisa connected the last two wires and ushered everyone as far away from the car as possible. Not a moment too soon, as they saw the Catoblepas lower its head, sharp horns aimed right for them.

Lisa was still the closest to the car and the Catoblepas locked onto her in its mad dash, intent on murdering at least one of them. She made the mistake of turning around.

The Catoblepas lifted its heavy head and fixed Lisa with a menacing gaze, causing her to freeze in her tracks, rooted to the spot and unable to move. The one thing Chaeyoung was most afraid of had happened. Lisa had been ensnared and was still _way_ to close to the ticking time bomb that was Chaeyoung’s Tesla.

A deafening boom shook the woods around Camp Half-Blood as the jerry-rigged Tesla exploded in a ball of flame, engulfing both the monster and Lisa, who hadn’t managed to get to safety.

“LISA!”

Her ears still ringing from the explosion, Chaeyoung dropped her weapon and surged forward only to feel Jisoo’s arms wrap around her waist like a vise, preventing her from going any further. “No, let me _go_ Jisoo, I need to see if she’s alright.”

The daughter of Hecate easily held her back with a murmured, “She’s fine, Chaeng. Look.”

The smoke began to clear and Chaeyoung’s mouth dropped open. Standing there, without a single burn or scratch mark on her body was Lisa. Above the taller girl’s head glowed a crossed hammer and anvil.

Lisa was a daughter of Hephaestus.

Which made sense, considering everything they’d been through tonight. Chaeyoung found herself wondering how she hadn’t put the pieces together before. Still, she was extremely relieved that they had all managed to get back to camp without any casualties. Or, well, any _demigod_ casualties.

Chaeyoung’s voice was small as she looked blankly at what remained of the monster that was chasing them. And what remained of her precious Tesla. Any hopes she had of Felix and his siblings making repairs had been thoroughly dashed. “My baby…Lisa, you blew up my car!”

“HELL YEAH I DID, WASN’T THAT AWESOME!” Lisa yelled loudly, clearly deafened after standing so closely to the explosion. Hephaestus kids might be fireproof, but no one was immune from the aftereffects of a loud explosion. Especially if they were standing in the blast radius. “HEY, WHAT’S THAT ON TOP OF JENNIE’S HEAD?”

Crisis averted, Chaeyoung and Jisoo turned around to look at where Lisa was pointing.

Chaeyoung’s face paled. Oh, this was _not_ good.

Jisoo broke the uncomfortable silence as Jennie tilted her head to stare up at the symbol floating above her head, a confused look on her face.

Staring up at the shadowy black skull hanging above her head.

“So uh, who’s gonna be the one to tell Joohyun that she’s got a sister?” Jisoo deadpanned.


	2. How You Like That Food Fight?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short scene for you to ring in the holiday season while I fight my own fight with Finals. I hope to get back to a more concrete update schedule after the semester ends, but until then, enjoy!

Chaeyoung ducked behind one of the pillars in the amphitheater, breathing heavily. How could things have gotten so out of hand so quickly? She peeked out over the edge of the toppled table and narrowly avoided getting hit in the face with what looked like a plate of mashed potatoes.

This was all Kim Yerim’s fault.

Chaeyoung really had wanted to introduce Jennie and Lisa to the world of demigods slowly, teaching them about their powers and about the recent events with Nyx. The two new demigods were a living testament to her first successful mission, and she’d be damned if she didn’t treat them right. Of course, the goddess of luck just _had_ to interfere with her carefully crafted plan. Hell, she hadn’t even had the opportunity to tell Joohyun that she would be bringing by her brand-new sister after dinner.

What started as a completely typical evening dinner with everyone at the amphitheater had quickly devolved into one massive free-for-all food fight. Chaeyoung was fairly certain that Yeri had been behind the vaunted first strike but even if she _had_ been, there was no proof.

The only reason the daughter of Hermes had even gotten away with this in the first place was because Director Kim had called for a meeting with all the head counselors and Seulgi. Which meant that Joohyun, Solar, Minho and the rest of the older campers would be unable to interfere. Some of the other campers had tried to restore some sense of order to the battlefield in front of them but their efforts were in vain. Everyone at camp might be battle-hardened warriors, sure. But they were all still teenagers. And with everything that had happened recently they all needed something like this to take the edge off.

Chaeyoung inwardly applauded Yeri’s chaotic plan, but she didn’t expect anything less from the daughter of Hermes. Of course, Chaeyoung would have preferred it if Yeri’s plan had taken another form. Someone had already thrown a plate of kimchi at her and stained her brand-new sweater.

She glanced around at her surroundings with wild eyes, trying to find something to defend herself with. Her eyes soon landed on a serving plate that was lying on the floor about ten feet to her left. There. That was her salvation.

Inhaling deeply she sunk into a ready stance and with her gaze set firmly on the serving plate she dashed out from behind the pillar to scoop it up. Her hands closed around cold metal and she smiled, feeling victorious in her mission. The feeling didn’t last long.

She pivoted around on one foot, bringing her makeshift shield up just in time to block an incoming hail of chicken wings. They bounced off the plate one by one to fall at her feet and Chaeyoung had to actively suppress the rising irritation in her chest. She wanted _so_ badly to throw down the gauntlet and just let herself be taken in by the chaos but she forced herself to breathe through the instinct. She was a daughter of Aphrodite damn it. She was above all of this.

Lisa wasn’t, however.

“Take that!” Lisa yelled from her right, barreling past Chaeyoung and chucking a spoon at the demigod who had attacked her. He managed to dodge it at the last second but dropped his own plate of prepared food ammo in the process.

“LISA?”

Lisa turned and waved, clearly enjoying the entire fight as she casually ducked to avoid a well-aimed throw from Felix. The pie he had tossed at her impacted the pillar behind her with a solid thump and slid down, leaving a trail of raspberry filling behind. “Chaeyoung! I had to admit when you guys brought us here I was a little nervous but if this is what you guys consider fun I am _so_ down with this demigod stuff.”

“Fun? This is sheer mad—” Chaeyoung never finished her sentence, as someone had taken advantage of her brief lack of awareness and thrown a loaf of bread at her face.

Lisa’s mouth dropped open in shock, immediately rushing over to the daughter of Aphrodite. “Are you okay?”

Chaeyoung saw red, but her anger fizzled out the moment Lisa grabbed her by the shoulders and looked at her with concern. The blow hadn’t hurt by any means, but Chaeyoung’s heart stuttered regardless. Man she needed to sort out these feelings sooner rather than later. _Looks like I’ll have to talk to Sana_ …

“I-I’m fine, Lisa,” Chaeyoung replied, clutching her fingers tightly around the serving platter she was holding and trying to lean around Lisa to see who had hit her. “I’m sorry, this probably isn’t the best first impression. Usually we’re a lot more civilized.”

Lisa shrugged, picking up another spoon and holding it at the ready. “Honestly? My cabinmates gave me an abbreviated version of what went down a couple months ago and I’m surprised everyone lasted this long.”

“They told you about Nyx?”

“Mhm, she sounds like a horrible person—goddess. Whatever. I’m amazed Seulgi and her friends managed to beat her.”

Chaeyoung thought the same, honestly. They’d managed to pull off the impossible and beat back a primordial goddess. Not only that but no one had died. Well, no one had _stayed_ dead. Hearing their exploits only made Chaeyoung more excited for the day she would finally be chosen to go on a quest.

But first she had to make it through this massacre.

“There you two are!” Jisoo blinked into existence next to Lisa, holding a very confused Jennie by the wrist. “I was looking all over for you guys. Yeri’s gone full-on Hermes and has taken over half the amphitheater.”

She pointed in Yeri’s direction and sure enough, when Chaeyoung looked she saw the daughter of Hermes rallying her siblings and beginning to build a fortress out of the overturned tables and chairs. Chen and Yuna leaped atop one of the pillars and began chucking cans of soda at the mass of demigods below them, staining the flagstones with bright splashes of orange and purple.

The mastermind herself sat back in the center of her territory with a smug smile on her face, wearing a crown made of twisted metal utensils. Her eyes met Chaeyoung’s and she raised an eyebrow, as if daring the daughter of Aphrodite to come and get her.

There was no way Chaeyoung could get across the amphitheater amidst all the chaos, Yeri was too well-protected. She needed a plan.

Luckily for her, some of the other campers had realized Yeri’s strategy and had stopped fighting each other in order to focus on the daughter of Hermes and her allies. 

“I’m gonna wipe that smug look off our maknae’s face,” a voice behind them growled, and Chaeyoung turned around to see Park Sooyoung, her hair caked with bits of dried mashed potato and green bean casserole. The daughter of Ares hadn’t yet gone into a berserker rage but judging from the hint of red Chaeyoung could see dancing in the center of her irises she wasn’t too far off.

An empty soup bowl flew towards their gathered group, coming from the direction of Yeri’s stronghold and Sooyoung stepped in front of Chaeyoung, stopping the metal dish in its tracks with her telekinesis and flinging it to the side where it clattered uselessly to the floor. Sooyoung must have been working hard to practice her weapon manipulation, Chaeyoung thought belatedly. Combat class next week was going to suck.

“Ares, to me! We’re taking those losers down.” Chaeyoung thought about saying something to dissuade Sooyoung but she knew her words wouldn’t have done anything to convince her otherwise.

There was a roar and Chaeyoung watched with wide eyes as Sooyoung was soon flanked by Nayeon, Chanyeol and the other seven Ares campers. Together the ten of them rushed forward, making a mad dash for Yeri’s front-line defenders.

“We need to end this _now_ before things get dangerous,” Jisoo commented. Chaeyoung agreed. The Ares campers had easily bowled over some of the Hermes campers and she knew more than one of them would need to spend the night in the infirmary. Sure, this was all fun and games but they couldn’t afford to lose anyone to injuries, especially at such a crucial time.

“You have a plan?” Jennie asked.

“I do,” Jisoo grinned, prying the serving platter out of Chaeyoung’s hands and beckoning the other three in close so she could share her idea. “It’s a stupid plan, but I figured all bets were off at this point.”

Five minutes later Chaeyoung found herself crouched on top of the serving platter she had once used as a shield while Jisoo lifted her with magic. The daughter of Hecate had used her magic to enlarge the metal plate to six times its normal size, thereby making it large enough to ride on. Jisoo was right, this _was_ a stupid plan. But it just might be stupid enough to work.

“Of course you would come up with this idea” Jennie told Jisoo, grabbing onto Chaeyoung’s proffered hand and joining her, crouching nervously atop the magically-enlarged serving platter.

“I gotta say it’s not the _worst_ plan I’ve ever heard,” Lisa said from behind them, pulling taut the bands of their makeshift slingshot, being mindful not to use too much force lest they snap. She’d “repurposed” a few of the cabin banners and tied them together, enlisting Felix to help her affix them to two of the massive pillars that encircled the amphitheater.

“Can you make the shot, Lisa?” Jisoo waved her hands and the serving platter lurched underneath Chaeyoung and Jennie’s feet. _It’s just like riding a skateboard, it’s just like riding a skateboard,_ Chaeyoung told herself repeatedly. _Oh mother forgive me, I thought I could rise above it all but I got sucked into the chaos._

“Can I?” Lisa scoffed, keeping a keen eye on her contraption as Jisoo moved them into position. Consulting Felix one last time, the daughter of Hephaestus aimed straight for the center of Yeri’s stronghold.

Jennie looked at her with a non-plussed expression on her face. “I dunno, can you?”

“Of course I can!” Lisa huffed, making her final adjustments. “Fire when ready, Jisoo!”

Jisoo nodded and released her magic with an excited, “Stand back, everyone!”

Chaeyoung and Jennie rocketed forward, blowing right past the defensive barricade Yeri’s siblings had set up and scattering a few of her “archers” like bowling pins.

Jennie leaped off of the serving plate and slammed both of her hands down on the flagstones, using her geokinesis to topple what remained of the tables. The earth rumbled under everyone’s feet, tripping up the defenders that came to cut them off.

“Whoa. How did I do that?” Jennie whispered, looking down at her hands in surprise. “How did I _know_ how to do that?”

Chaeyoung was equally surprised but there wasn’t time to unpack Jennie’s newfound powers at the moment. Yeri’s siblings were quickly recovering from the surprise attack. So she settled for, “It’s a demigod thing, just roll with it. Our fight isn’t over yet.”

Wordlessly, Jennie nodded and picked up a discarded swordfish carcass. “Go get Yeri, I’ll deal with them.”

“Do you even know how to use a sword?”

“Nope! But I’m a damn good actor.” Jennie smiled at her for the first time since they’d met and Chaeyoung nodded, galvanized by the older girl’s show of friendliness.

Dusting off her jeans and doing her best to ignore her now-ruined designer sweater, Chaeyoung sauntered forward confidently. Her eyes fell on Yeri, who by now had realized that none of her siblings would be coming to rescue her.

The daughter of Hermes pulled out a pair of dinner rolls that had been crudely shaped into daggers and sank into a battle stance.

“I have to admit, Chaeyoung. I didn’t think you’d allow yourself to let go and just go with the chaos.”

“Neither did I,” Chaeyoung admitted. Unlike Yeri she had no weapon, but even the daughter of Hermes knew that being weaponless didn’t make Chaeyoung any less dangerous. “But it’s been fun.”

She approached Yeri, easily dodging the younger girl’s half-hearted blows until she was right up in her face. Chaeyoung grabbed Yeri by the collar of her shirt and looked straight into her eyes, dropping her voice down an octave and smirking, “Drop your weapon Yeri, it’s over.”

The bread daggers Yeri was holding slipped from her fingers and Chaeyoung felt all the fight drain out of the younger girl’s body. Not even a trained demigod could stand against her charmspeak.

“Damn it unnie, that was a low blow,” Yeri whined, struggling weakly against Chaeyoung’s grip. “Fine. I surrender.”

Chaeyoung grinned, releasing her hold on Yeri and picking up the makeshift crown that had fallen to the stone floor and putting it on her own head. Huh. Maybe it did pay off every now and then to just let go.

Game over.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE?”

Everyone froze, their celebration cut short. The head counselors had come back. And leading the pack was one _very_ pissed off Bae Joohyun.

Yeri pointed her finger at Chaeyoung. “She started it.”


	3. Just like that, BOOM(bayah)

Chaeyoung was no stranger to getting scolded. She never considered herself a rebellious child by any means but she’d had her moments. Though the memories of her father were beginning to fade away with time she remembered how he used to sit her down and lecture her. His voice had been firm and his face grim but behind all that she’d seen the worry in his eyes.

A similar expression was etched on Joohyun’s face. And honestly, she thought the daughter of Hades was about ten times scarier.

“I can’t _believe_ you would instigate something so childish!” Joohyun’s raised voice sounded more anxious than anything, which Chaeyoung couldn’t help but notice. What exactly _had_ the head counselors been talking about while they were at dinner?

As soon as the counselors had returned all fingers had pointed in Yeri’s direction. And since Chaeyoung and Jennie had been in such close proximity to the daughter of Hermes they’d gotten dragged up to the Big House as well. Lisa and Jisoo hadn’t been far behind them either, as someone had snitched and let loose the fact that it had been the two of them who’d masterminded the whole “slingshot” affair.

Which was now why Chaeyoung sat squashed in-between Lisa and Jennie on one of the couches in the parlor, absentmindedly stroking one of the many cats that called the Big House home while Joohyun scolded them.

“We’re preparing for the possibility of war and you decide to start a food fight?” Chaeyoung looked up, expecting to come face-to-face with an angry Joohyun only to find the older girl staring not at her but at Yeri, who had until now been sitting smugly next to the four of them pretending like everything was peachy. “Yeri-ah I’m talking to you!”

Yeri blinked, clearly not expecting the sudden turn of events. Chaeyoung heard a stifled snort coming from her left and the corners of her mouth threatened to turn up into a smile.

“Wait, what?”

“Oh please, you expect me to believe that _Rosie_ was the mastermind behind tonight’s food fight?” Joohyun pointed in Chaeyoung’s direction and she mustered up the most innocent expression she could in the moment, which was hard to do while she was still covered in bits and pieces of food, the makeshift crown still perched precariously on her head. 

“Yes?” Was Yeri’s hesitant response, and Joohyun leaned over to smack the blonde upside the head.

“Who do you take me for, Seulgi?”

Yeri rubbed the back of her head. “Unnie come on. All we’ve been doing is preparing for war. Day in and day out it’s combat classes and strategy meetings. Everyone’s being run ragged, they deserved something fun for a change.”

Joohyun pinched the bridge of her nose between two fingers, clearly frustrated by Yeri’s antics. “I’m not going to lie and say that you’re wrong. But what if we had been attacked? You of all people know that Nyx is slowly biding her time until the next shard is found. If we’d been caught unaware there could have been a massacre.”

“But there wasn’t was there?” Yeri didn’t seem to know when to give it a rest.

“It doesn’t matter Yerim!” Chaeyoung found herself unconsciously moving closer to Lisa upon hearing Joohyun’s raised voice. This was beginning to sound more and more like a family dispute and not something Chaeyoung and the others should be witnessing.

Yeri seemed stunned by the use of her full name coming out of Joohyun’s mouth. “When did you get like this, unnie? In case you’ve forgotten, we’re KIDS! We may be heroes but we’re kids first, damn it. None of us asked to be involved in any of this!”

Chaeyoung thought she saw a glint of tears beginning to form in Yeri’s eyes. Joohyun stood up abruptly, running a hand through her hair in exasperation.

“I know.” Joohyun’s voice had gone soft. The older girl’s knuckles clutched the chair in front of her so tightly that her knuckles turned white. “I know you didn’t ask to be involved. Do you think I asked to be named the leader of this effort?”

“Unnie, I—"

“Yerim you know as well as I do that the gods care little for their children. They have their moments but the one thing that can never be forgotten is this: We are nothing to them but pawns. We are the first line of defense against Nyx but make no mistake. The gods will not think twice before sending us out to the be the first sacrifices to Nyx’s forces should she rise again. Our only crime is having been born as children of the gods. And I’ll be damned before I let any one of those campers down there die in a war they should never have been a part of.”

Joohyun’s voice shook on the last sentence and Chaeyoung was struck with how sincere she sounded. As a daughter of Aphrodite one of her gifts allowed her to read most people like an open book, to see their true feelings and understand every little inflection in their tones and mannerisms. Joohyun was _scared_. They’d been victorious against Nyx and yet the encounter had the most powerful demigod in camp quaking in her boots months afterward.

The daughter of Hades was completely certain in her statement. She hadn’t asked to lead and yet here she was—all because the rest of them were counting on her to help keep them safe.

Yeri had seen it too. The younger girl quickly wiped her tears away and approached Joohyun from behind, wrapping her arms around the other girl’s waist and leaning her head on Joohyun’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry.”

Joohyun seemed to collapse a bit in Yeri’s embrace and Chaeyoung could feel the relief coming off the older girl in waves. _I guess they both had something they needed to say…_

“I’m not condemning your action, Yeri. You’re right, we do need something so everyone can take their minds off of training for a little while. I was hoping to announce this tonight after dinner but I suppose the announcement will have to wait until morning now.”

Yeri backed up, her head tilting curiously to the side. Even Chaeyoung’s ears were pricked up now. Joohyun smiled wryly.

“I suppose you’re not going to tell us what it is,” Lisa piped up from next to Chaeyoung.

Joohyun smiled mysteriously, turning to face Yeri. “No. No I’m not. Now get going, little one. I need to talk to Chaeyoung and her friends.”

The daughter of Hermes nodded. Chaeyoung didn’t miss the barely disguised spring in her step as she made to leave, no doubt thankful that Joohyun hadn’t decided to punish her for tonight’s chaos. For a brief moment she thought about bringing something up but decided that the younger girl had had enough for one day. She wouldn’t snitch.

Yeri had almost made it out the front door when Joohyun called out to her, “Oh, and make sure you don’t wear yourself out this week, I’ve added another rotation of chores to your schedule.”

“But—”

“No buts, Yeri. You made your choice, you can deal with the consequences.”

Chaeyoung heard what sounded like a string of muffled curse words and the front door of the Big House slammed shut behind Yeri.

Joohyun smirked, still looking in the direction of the front door as Yeri could be seen through the window, stomping her way back to the Hermes cabin. The daughter of Hades turned back to face them.

“As for you four…”

Chaeyoung gulped.

XXX

The next morning Chaeyoung all but shuffled into the amphitheater, regretting her decision to participate in the previous night’s chaos.

Joohyun hadn’t added any extra chores to their schedules but she had strong-armed them into moving a set of already-built Ikea furniture over to the Hades cabin. The older girl had remained tight-lipped about its origins too, though a mysterious smile had crossed her face.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the four of them then had to rearrange the entire Hades cabin since, in Joohyun’s words, _I have a sister now, this cabin is going to need some serious redecorating._ They’d spent the next few hours completely redecorating the previously lonely cabin. Seulgi had even stopped by with some cookies, and the Dawnbreaker also seemed to be unusually ecstatic about the table and chairs that had been set up. Chaeyoung set a mental reminder to ask them about it one day.

Still half-asleep, Chaeyoung joined the quickly-growing line of campers as they piled their plates high with food. She blindly reached for some pancakes and bacon, before grabbing an empty coffee mug and shuffling back to her usual table. On the way back she scraped part of her food into the ceremonial brazier and sent a quick prayer to her mother, making sure to stifle the yawn that threatened to come out as she spoke.

“Please let today be nice and adventure-free.”

She didn’t hear a response, not that she was waiting for one. The gods rarely contacted their children, and even Aphrodite, who was known as one of the slightly-less deadbeat parents, had only ever answered her twice before.

“Coffee or tea?” she mused to herself as she sat down, picking up her mug and rolling it back and forth in her hands.

“How about neither?” Jisoo replied, sliding in next to Chaeyoung and setting a large Thermos on the table. Lisa and Jennie soon joined them, both looking curious about the contents of the thermos. Jisoo snapped her fingers and four shot glasses appeared in front of each girl.

“Day-drinking?” Lisa joked.

Jisoo shook her head and unscrewed the cap, “Don’t I wish. I managed to snag a bottle of the Dionysus cabin’s “hangover” remedy.”

“How’d you get that?” Chaeyoung asked as Jisoo filled their glasses with the strange, dark brown liquid. Jennie and Lisa both looked at the drink with trepidation. “They’re notoriously picky about who they give it to.”

“Jeongyeon owed me after I helped to set up a fireworks display for her girlfriend’s birthday,” Jisoo tipped her head back and drank the remedy in one shot, scowling a bit and slamming the glass back down. She shivered, “Ugh, the taste never gets better but I have to admit it works wonders.”

Chaeyoung couldn’t argue with that. If there was one thing Dionysus kids knew how to do it was to make effective anti-hangover cures. This one also had the uncanny ability to instantly wake someone up no matter how tired they were. It tasted awful, but the benefits more than made up for the brief moment of disgust.

Sighing loudly, Chayeoung gulped down her glass. The effect was instant, and she felt like someone had injected caffeine directly into her veins, chasing away her exhaustion and perking her right up. “Drink up girls, I don’t know what Joohyun has planned for today but you do _not_ want to be tired.”

Lisa shared a look with Jennie and tilted her head as if to say “screw it”, pinching her nose with one hand and downing her shot. “Oh my god that’s disgusting.”

Jennie followed suit, “It’s not the _worst_ thing I’ve ever tasted.”

Three pairs of eyes looked at her like she was insane. Chaeyoung began shoveling down her breakfast to chase away unpleasant aftertaste that still lingered on her tongue.

“What do you think Joohyun has planned?” she asked Jisoo, her mouth half-full of bacon. 

“Knowing Joohyun? Something physically demanding, something hellishly horrible, something—” Jisoo took one look at Lisa and Jennie’s concerned faces and stopped talking.

As if Joohyun had heard them talking about her, the daughter of Hades got out of her seat and approached the front of the amphitheater.

The casual chatter immediately quieted down.

“I know everyone has had a rough last couple of months, with the increase to training and combat classes and the like. Make no mistake, we are preparing for a war, though I pray every evening that the world does not reach that point.”

Joohyun looked towards Seulgi, who shot her an encouraging thumbs-up.

“Which is why I’ve worked with Mr. D and Mr. Kim in order to plan a little something special.”

Joohyun gestured to a boy named Bam-Bam, one of Jisoo’s siblings, who snapped his fingers. A large banner unfurled behind Joohyun that read: “First Annual Camp Half-Blood Field Day!” in hastily written white letters.

“We haven’t really had time for any war games recently so to make up for it, we’re having a field day!”

Excited chatter started to break out amongst the campers and even Chaeyoung found herself getting interested.

“If you look underneath your plates there should be a mark, whoever shares your mark will be on your team for the day.” Joohyun picked up her own plate to reveal a blue star, showing it to everyone. “At the end of the day, the two teams with the most points will participate in a chariot race to determine the final winner!”

Chaeyoung quickly peered underneath her plate and her eyes widened in surprise. A single blue star had been etched into the metal dish.

“Hey, we’re the same!” Lisa whispered, a wide smile on her face as she showed Chaeyoung her own plate. Jisoo looked only slightly disappointed to have a red star on her plate.

“Damn, I wasn’t lucky enough to be with Ms. Win Condition.” Jisoo craned her neck to try and catch a glimpse of some of the other campers. “But I see Chen, Somi and Sana, I can vibe with that.”

Jennie’s star was purple and she looked a bit sad that she hadn’t gotten paired with anyone she knew.

“I can switch plates with you if you want,” Chaeyoung said, pushing her plate over to the other girl. As much as she didn’t want to lose her spot with Joohyun AND Lisa, she’d swap in a heartbeat if Jennie felt like she needed to be with a familiar face. “That way you and Lisa can be partners.”

Jennie smiled gratefully but shook her head. “Thanks, but I think I’ll be okay. I should probably try and get to know some of the other campers. 

Chaeyoung nodded, unable to help the bubble of happiness in her chest that began to boil as she thought about spending the entire day with Lisa by her side.

Mr. Kim wheeled in what looked like a giant scoreboard, each row adorned with a different colored star. Joohyun began explaining the finer rules of the event, and how teams could earn points to advance their star. The first two stars that hit the finish line would compete in the chariot race at the end of the day.

“We’re _so_ gonna win,” Jisoo hissed, a competitive glint in her eyes. “Who cares if you guys have Joohyun!”

Lisa muttered under her breath in Chaeyoung’s direction, “Is she always like that?”

“Only if there’s prizes on the line,” Chaeyoung replied with a smile.

XXX

As the day progressed, Chaeyoung and Lisa wandered around the camp and took in the various sights and sounds around them. Joohyun had really gone all out; there were events for everything, all staffed by the head counselors and the local satyrs and nymphs.

There was a mini full-contact capture the flag game, and a dueling tournament. Chaeyoung saw Nayeon and Sooyoung tag-teaming an unfortunate pair of Athena kids, sending them sprawling to the dirt. A cannon fired a plume of purple smoke into the air and the large scoreboard that sat in the amphitheater updated to show the new rankings.

Much to her surprise, Chaeyoung’s team quickly pulled ahead in the rankings, even though Joohyun only participated in a handful of activities.

“I think it’s that pretty girl and her rainbow friend that are doing a lot of the work,” Lisa pointed out. Chaeyoung followed where she indicated and saw Mina, daughter of Athena, mercilessly take out the camper opposite her in a game of chess. Next to her, a short blonde girl cheered wildly, a rainbow penguin appearing out of nowhere and dancing on top of Mina’s head.

“That’s Myoui Mina and Son Chaeyoung,” Chaeyoung said, watching a plume of blue smoke fire into the air. “Daughters of Athena and Iris. Long-time girlfriends, sickeningly cute, etc.”

“They’ve got good teamwork,” Lisa noticed. “Good thing they’re on our team.”

Chaeyoung nodded. _Maybe with them helping, we might make it to the chariot race._

Five hours later found Chaeyoung and Lisa wrangling a pair of mechanical steeds from the stable and walking them over to the large racetrack on the other side of the camp.

Chaeyoung’s prediction turned out to be true, and the blue team would be facing off against Jisoo and her red team allies. Only four players were allowed to race, split into teams of two with their own steeds.

Chaeyoung had tried to claim the Aphrodite cabin’s pair of white stallions but one of her siblings had gotten there first, taking the speedy horses for the red team. It was a good thing the Hephaestus cabin had half a dozen mechanical horses on standby.

The two of them walked out onto the field while a crowd of campers cheered. She didn’t know why Mina had asked for her and Lisa to compete alongside Joohyun and the other Chaeyoung but figured that it was probably best not to question the Athena girl.

Jisoo’s team had chosen Chanyeol, a son of Ares and Sehun, a son of Hermes to be two of the team’s representatives. The two boys harnessed up a pair of blood-red mares with flaming hooves to their chariot and bickered back and forth good-naturedly about whose turn it was to drive.

Chaeyoung wasn’t worried about _them._

Lisa harnessed up her mechanical horses to their chariot and drove to the starting line. Chaeyoung spotted Joohyun and the other Chaeyoung, hanging out in a chariot pulled by the daughter of Hades’ two hellhounds. In front of them pranced the Aphrodite stallions, but they were too far away for Chaeyoung to see who was driving them.

 _This is going to be an interesting race,_ Chaeyoung thought as a cannon went off. The crowd yelled around them as Lisa snapped her reins and with a tinny-sounding neigh, their chariot began to move. 

The race started out well enough. Lisa turned out to be a pretty decent driver, and it only took her about half a lap to learn how to get the mechanical stallions under control. The taller girl seemed to really be enjoying the experience and she whooped happily as they began to catch up to Sehun and Chanyeol’s chariot.

The two boys were surprised that Lisa had managed to get her steeds under control so quickly and they quickly drew their weapons as if to prepare a charge.

“Don’t worry, I got this,” Chaeyoung muttered, patting Lisa’s shoulder comfortingly. “Just keep driving, no matter what.”

Lisa gulped but nodded, snapping the reins and urging their chariot forward.

Chaeyoung cracked her knuckles. This was the fun part about chariot racing.

Drawing her bow, Chaeyoung thumbed through her quiver of arrows before selecting one whose arrowhead pulsed with an icy energy. Jisoo herself had charmed this set of arrows to inflict a variety of nasty effects on hit. _This one should do the trick._

She tested the wind speed and nocked her arrow, aiming straight for the spinning wheels on Sehun and Chanyeol’s chariot. She inhaled deeply and tuned out the chaotic sounds around her. Chaeyoung wasn’t an Apollo or Artemis child but that didn’t mean she wasn’t good with a bow.

She fired, and the arrow struck its target, embedding itself in the wood just above their wheels. Chanyeol jeered, believing that she had missed her shot.

All she could do was smile in response as ice started to form from the arrow’s point of impact, quickly spreading down the side of the chariot and coating the wheels. Their chariot lurched as the entire right wheel froze, disrupting their momentum.

Chanyeol no longer looked confident as he tried to lean over the side to melt the ice with his flaming sword, looking panicked.

“Nice try,” Chaeyoung said smugly, just out of earshot. Jisoo’s arrows weren’t actually imbued with elemental magic. The daughter of Hecate had explained it once but a lot of the terms she used had flown over Chaeyoung’s head. Suffice it to say, while the ice arrows acted like ice, they were really just concentrated magical arrows whose properties _mimicked_ the appearance and effects of ice. Which meant they were immune to fire.

She watched gleefully as the ice spread even further, along the underside of the chariot and onto the left wheel, stopping the chariot in its tracks. The sudden loss of momentum catapulted both boys up and over their steeds, sending them crashing to the track below.

The crowd hissed in sympathy as Lisa sped up even more, approaching just behind the red team’s second chariot.

 _So it’s Sana and Somi,_ Chaeyoung thought to herself as they got closer. The two of them made a strong pair. A quick glance at their chariot made her pout: their chariot had been adorned with anti-magic runes, probably courtesy of Jisoo.

She snorted, wondering why her best friend hadn’t marked both chariots. She’d have to ask Jisoo later. Regardless, her first strategy wouldn’t work here.

Joohyun and the other Chaeyoung quickly caught up behind them as well, the hellhounds that pulled their chariot baying happily as they snapped at the white stallions pulling Sana and Somi’s chariot.

Joohyun pulled her chariot to one side of them, signaling Lisa to do the same on the other side.

Lisa easily pulled back on the reins and guided the mechanical horses to the other side of the red team’s last chariot, effectively boxing them in.

Somi swore, realizing the situation they were in. The daughter of Apollo seemed to relay something to Sana and the other girl grabbed the reins in one smooth motion, taking over control of the horses while Somi reached for a button on the floor of their chariot. A second later there was an ominous buzzing sound as two metal blades poked out from the spokes of the wheels.

“Back up!” Chaeyoung called to Lisa and the taller girl readjusted her grip just in time to lead her horses out of harm’s way. The spikes on Sana and Somi’s chariot whirred angrily, warning them away. Boxing them in wouldn’t work anymore. “Okay then, plan B.”

“What’s Plan B?” Lisa called over her shoulder.

Chaeyoung sheathed her bow and made sure her boots were laced up tightly before hopping onto the guardrails that surrounded their chariot. “You keep driving and I jump.”

“That’s a horrible plan!” Lisa yelled.

“It’s not horrible if it works,” Chaeyoung countered, shooting Lisa a flirty smile. “Just get me as close to them as you can without endangering the horses.”

Lisa looked like she wanted to argue more but did as she was told. Getting as close as she could to Sana and Somi’s chariot without triggering their spiked wheels she glanced at Chaeyoung.

“I still think this is a horrible plan.”

Ignoring her, Chaeyoung took a deep breath and jumped over to Sana and Somi’s chariot, making sure to catch herself on the guardrails that surrounded their carriage. She thought she saw a brief flash of rainbow light as she leapt and wondered what plan Joohyun and the other Chaeyoung had.

“Somi, we’ve got a visitor, take the wheel!” Sana shouted, drawing a pair of daggers and stepping towards Chaeyoung. The carriage was barely large enough to hold four people on a good day, and while the horses didn’t seem to mind the sudden influx in weight, Chaeyoung knew that this was quite the unfavorable circumstance. She definitely didn’t have enough room to draw her bow, much less make a shot. Luckily for her, the bow wasn’t her only weapon.

Still, with the amount of background noise going on Chaeyoung would need to get even closer to Sana if she wanted a chance to use her charmspeaking. So she drew her own daggers and prepared to face off with Sana.

Skill-wise, they both seemed to be on pretty even ground. All those combat classes with Joohyun and the other combat-focused campers seemed to be paying off. She could read Sana’s careful swings and was able to counter them. Neither of them were proficient in daggers so at least there was that, Chaeyoung thought to herself as she jerked backwards just in time to avoid getting slashed across the cheek.

A checkered flash shot past the chariot and Chaeyoung knew that meant time was limited. Another half-lap and Somi and Sana’s team would prove victorious. Their horses were simply faster. She had to end this. Luckily for her, Sana’s next swing had her overbalancing slightly and Chaeyoung immediately took advantage of the situation.

She grabbed her sibling by the wrist and pressed down on the tendon underneath, forcing Sana to relinquish her hold on the dagger. It clattered to the floor of the chariot. Chaeyoung then pulled Sana close until they were flush. At this close range there was no way her Charmspeak would miss.

“Surrender,” Chaeyoung whispered, feeling Sana shiver underneath her honeyed words. She didn’t expect what happened next.

Sana began to giggle.

Confused, Chaeyoung raised her eyebrows in time for Sana to elbow her in the stomach and wriggle free from her grip. Sana bounced to her feet, a wide smile on her face.

“How?” was all Chaeyoung could say, blinking away tears at the sudden attack.

“Sorry, did you say something?” Sana turned her head to the side and Chaeyoung caught a glimpse of something pink stuffed into the other girl’s ears.

 _Earplugs!_ Chaeyoung swore, realizing that her number one weapon against them was useless. They’d read her strategy like a book, completely countering her team’s strategy. Sana tapped Somi on the shoulder and took the reins from the younger girl.

“I’ll give you the honors, Somi,” Sana said coolly. Her teammate grinned and with one high-powered kick the daughter of Apollo knocked Chaeyoung out of their chariot and onto the dirt-covered track.

Chaeyoung felt rather than heard a couple of her ribs cracking as she hit the track and skidded several yards, the gravel biting into her body as she rolled. The crowd let out a disappointed ‘ooh’ as she finally came to a stop, breathing heavily through her teeth to tamp down on the pain burning in her chest.

 _Damn it, I almost had them_ , Chaeyoung lamented as Sana and Somi pulled away towards the finish line. _Sorry guys, I messed up._

Almost as soon as the thought came to her mind, a shocked sound erupted from the crowd before a loud _boom_ rocketed through the arena.

_That explosion sounds familiar…_

Chaeyoung raised her head up enough in time to see Sana and Somi’s chariot explode into splinters, sending the girls flying in much the same way Chaeyoung had. A second later Joohyun’s chariot barreled past the wreckage and flew across the finish line. There was a single cannon shot and a puff of blue smoke erupted into the air.

They’d won.

“Haha, holy shit we won,” Chaeyoung cheered inwardly and slowly got to her feet, wincing in pain. It was nothing a square of ambrosia and a couple hours of rest in the infirmary couldn’t fix, but _damn_ did it hurt.

“Damn, I can’t believe Minari’s strategy actually worked,” came a voice from just behind her.

Chaeyoung whirled around as quickly as her injury would permit to see a shimmer of rainbow light. A moment later the air seemed to ripple, revealing Son Chaeyoung.

“Chaeng?” Chaeyoung couldn’t believe what she was seeing. “You—How?”

The daughter of Iris grinned toothily, holding up a familiar-looking silver sphere. “Mina thought they’d run a play like that once they learned you’d be racing.”

“That girl is seriously scary,” Chaeyoung muttered, allowing her friend to support her as she limped off the track.

“Right?” The expression on Chaeyoung’s face appeared to be somewhere between awestruck and terrified. “She knew that the other teams would be distracted fighting you since you have that handy Charmspeaking power. And on the off chance they had something prepared to counter you, she sent me over to help.”

“That moment when Joohyun and Lisa boxed Somi in,” Chaeyoung realized. She’d _thought_ she seen a flash of rainbow light as she leaped onto their chariot.

The daughter of Iris nodded. “Yup. While they were busy fighting you, I attached a couple of these bombs Lisa jerry-rigged to their chariot. When they kicked you off, I jumped ship and detonated them.”

The crowd cheered as Somi and Sana got to their feet, looking battered, bruised and quite disappointed but otherwise unhurt. Chaeyoung made a mental note to apologize to them later.

“Your girlfriend is one hell of a strategist,” Chaeyoung said, noticing how the other Chaeyoung’s chest puffed up with pride at the compliment.

“Yeah she is.”

“Remind me never to mess with her…” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the noticeable gap in-between updates, my dog died over the holidays and it sucked out literally all of my motivation until recently. But I hope you enjoy this chapter and I will do my best to return more quickly for the next chapter!


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